Person I know is altering street signs

[FingerDub]

Not exactly quite sure how I feel about this but this guy I know, who I have no ill will toward, is altering the street signs. I don't live anywhere near him so it doesn't affect me, but I thought it might be interesting to discuss.

He lives on a half residential, half industrial street. His house and business is on the same street. Until a few weeks ago, there were RV's lined up on each side. He is a pretty handy tool type guy, and bought some professional looking street signs up and put them up and down whole street saying "No RV Parking" complete with the metal banding, bolting them to the street posts in the middle of the night. They all look very professional.

I have jammed at his place and when I have come out, I have seen a mid 50's looking woman pulling up her dress and urinating on the sidewalk. He told me that he complained a couple of times, but nothing happened. So he too the law into his own hands. Meanwhile, all the RV's have cleared out.

I don't NEED anything to be done, just posting cause I thought it was interesting.

 

[MJ5150]

Yes, that is interesting.
Interesting because I was in the parking lot of our local Costco yesterday and witnessed a young boy, maybe 9-10 years old, jump out on the passenger side of an SUV, pull down his pants and pee all over the ground and side of the car they were parked next to.
By the time his mother came around to that side of the car after grabbing her shopping bags from the back, he had finished and pulled his pants up.
I thought she might notice, or maybe even smell, the pee all over the ground. She either didn't notice or didn't care as she didn't say or do anything about it at that moment.
Perhaps she addressed it later with him.

-Mike

 

[Stumbo]

Yeah...didn't see that coming...a thread about exterior urination.

 

[dreamadream99]

?..didn't see that coming...

No one ever expects...the Spanish Inquisition.

 

[Stewie26]

Not exactly quite sure how I feel about this but this guy I know, who I have no ill will toward, is altering the street signs. I don't live anywhere near him so it doesn't affect me, but I thought it might be interesting to discuss.

He lives on a half residential, half industrial street. His house and business is on the same street. Until a few weeks ago, there were RV's lined up on each side. He is a pretty handy tool type guy, and bought some professional looking street signs up and put them up and down whole street saying "No RV Parking" complete with the metal banding, bolting them to the street posts in the middle of the night. They all look very professional.

I have jammed at his place and when I have come out, I have seen a mid 50's looking woman pulling up her dress and urinating on the sidewalk. He told me that he complained a couple of times, but nothing happened. So he too the law into his own hands. Meanwhile, all the RV's have cleared out.

I don't NEED anything to be done, just posting cause I thought it was interesting.

First of all, I would have imagined that your friend had already made complaints to the city and probably received little or no satisfaction from the controlling city or agency. If your friend both lives and works on the street where he posted the signs, he is probably at his wit ends to the problems he has encountered and the bad environment he has witnessed over times. Yes, he is skirting the law by posting the signs. But with that said, he has my sympathy. He took the problem into his hands and solved it, at least temporary. The Homeless and near homeless is a touchy subject that most local politicians do not want to talk about or bring attention to. In this case, since your friend made signs look just like the official city signs, there is a high chance that they will not be discovered as counterfeits. And if some politician does discover it, they may shy away from removing the signs has it could cause a media nightmare for them. Just sayin it could be a win for your friend.

 

[ZenG]

First of all, I would have imagined that your friend had already made complaints to the city and probably received little or no satisfaction from the controlling city or agency. If your friend both lives and works on the street where he posted the signs, he is probably at his wit ends to the problems he has encountered and the bad environment he has witnessed over times. Yes, he is skirting the law by posting the signs. But with that said, he has my sympathy. He took the problem into his hands and solved it, at least temporary. The Homeless and near homeless is a touchy subject that most local politicians do not want to talk about or bring attention to. In this case, since your friend made signs look just like the official city signs, there is a high chance that they will not be discovered as counterfeits. And if some politician does discover it, they may shy away removing the signs has it could cause a media nightmare for them. Just sayin it could be a win for your friend.

On the other hand he might just have opened up a can of worms for himself if something nasty happens because of those signs.

 

[Stewie26]

On the other hand he might just have opened up a can of worms for himself if something nasty happens because of those signs.

First they would have to prove he installed the signs. The OP said that his friend made perfect signs and even mounted the signs using the same hardware as the city uses. Sounds like he thought this out well. I have a feeling he did a clean job and left no evidence that he posted the signs.

 

[skwee]

Yes, that is interesting.
Interesting because I was in the parking lot of our local Costco yesterday and witnessed a young boy, maybe 9-10 years old, jump out on the passenger side of an SUV, pull down his pants and pee all over the ground and side of the car they were parked next to.
By the time his mother came around to that side of the car after grabbing her shopping bags from the back, he had finished and pulled his pants up.
I thought she might notice, or maybe even smell, the pee all over the ground. She either didn't notice or didn't care as she didn't say or do anything about it at that moment.
Perhaps she addressed it later with him.

-Mike

Perhaps she even encouraged her progeny to do so!!

 

[JGbassman]

Well I think it's genius. Most government systems are built on a reactive instead of proactive stance, and and sort of revision to a city ordinance would take a survey team, multiple complaints regarding safety, or otherwise causing issue with business, or welfare issues, such as grown women voiding in public. However, cities do not like change, and it costs them money and time when changes come about, and that doesn't fly with many.

No doubt he took the official route first, where it got deadlined, and he got tired of the lack of progressive countermeasures to the problem.

By doing this, he removed the problem, and it didn't cost the city a dime. He wasn't caught, there haven't been complaints, and the city will probably not even find out unless they look into the ordinances for that roadway.

Right or wrong, he solved a problem because the city government didn't find it to be a big enough interest for them.

While I don't necessarily agree in changing or creating road signs like this, but in this circumstance, it's pretty cool.

 

[blastoff99]

I think @JGbassman is right. And although I prefer to go through proper channels when possible, if for no other reason than as a CYA, there are times when that method fails.

I used to live right next to a university parking lot. The lot was on the back side of a very nice residential neighborhood, hidden from the rest of campus. For only about 30 spots, there was way too much bad activity that went on there, thanks to the seclusion. My house was the only structure that was close enough to a) have a good view and b) be at risk from the nefarious deeds, so if something went down in the middle of the night, I was the one to call the cops.

The house was in the city. The parking lot was on campus. You can probably anticipate the buck-passing.

For months and months, most of one school year and into another, a particular car alarm kept going off. Any amount of wind would do it, or someone parking next to it, or nothing at all. This car must have had the best battery ever, because the alarm would sound for HOURS. I called the city police, who would not do anything because the lot was on campus. I called the campus cops, who would not respond to a city resident complaint. I called the parking folks, who refused to contact the car owner or let me do it. I wrote letters, I made phone calls, I put notes on the windshield. The car owner did not live close enough to hear the alarm, but I did. Nothing solved the problem, not even me out on a rainy night in my PJs telling the campus police chief that this had gone on for a year and I was beyond fed up. He was unmoved.

Left with no support in getting this problem solved, the problem got solved another way. The next time the alarm went off, someone went and let *all* the air out of all four tires. No slashing, no spray paint, no broken glass. No lasting damage, just a day of inconvenience for the car owner.

I never heard the alarm again.

Was this the right way to solve the problem? No, of course it wasn't. Had everything else been tried? Yes, for months. Did the problem get solved? Yup.

 

[GIBrat51]

He didn't alter a street sign; he merely added an additional sign, which I'm sure is on the list of the city's Things To Do when they can scrape up the funds....

 

[TOOL460002]

I'll proudly pee off my deck, especially at night, when I can see the moon through the trees as my urine cascades down some 20+ feet into the greenery growing down on the hill. It has been the highlight of my day on numerous occasions. But out on the street? Please no. I don't want to see it and I don't want to get cholera.

I'm not positive how legal it is to put up signs, although the location and content would likely decide that. It is illegal to take down a stop sign or other official government sign. I don't know where the OP's problem lies.

 

[dtripoli]

Awesome, whoever that sign guy is, I like him.
People peeing in public...not so much.
Used to be you'd be cited for indecent exposure for peeing in public.
For some ungodly reason, littering and peeing in public has gotten worse.

 

[pacojas]

ever see that episode of "Jail: Las Vegas" where the German tourist gets arrested for urinating in public. the guy was drunk and asked the officers why he was under arrest.
cop replies, "because you're peeing!"
guy starts yelling, "i'm going to jail because i'm European?"

 

[FingerDub]

I don't know where the OP's problem lies.

Where did I say there was a problem? In fact, it's comments like this that caused me to write that "I don't NEED anything to be done, just posting cause I thought it was interesting." otherwise people are reactionary. Still, you responded this way anyway.

 

[HaphAsSard]

ever see that episode of "Jail: Las Vegas" where the German tourist gets arrested for urinating in public. the guy was drunk and asked the officers why he was under arrest.
cop replies, "because you're peeing!"
guy starts yelling, "i'm going to jail because i'm European?"

 

[TolerancEJ]

...a thread about exterior urination.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

 

[S-Bigbottom]

Good for him.
I thought this was going to be about someone with a Sharpie pen, some stickers and a can of spray paint.

 

[TolerancEJ]

When I read the thread title, I was expecting to read about him increasing/decreasing a speed limit.

It is relatively simple to change a 6 to an 8. "What!? The speed limit says 85mph!"